ISLAMABAD: India is hosting the second India-Arab Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Jan. 31 to strengthen its engagement with the Arab world after a nearly decade-long gap, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

The meeting, co-chaired by India and the United Arab Emirates, will be attended by foreign ministers from member states of the League of Arab States, along with the Secretary General of the Arab League. The meeting is preceded by the 4th India-Arab Senior Officials' Meeting on Jan. 30.

Foreign ministers and top officials of 20 countries have confirmed their participation, including representatives from Palestine, Sudan, Egypt, Djibouti, Algeria, Comoros, Jordan, Kuwait, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Somalia, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, Libya, Mauritania, Iraq, and Oman, the ministry said.

The agenda: five priority areas

The inaugural ministers' meeting was held in 2016 in Bahrain, where the two sides identified five priority areas of cooperation, known as the Manama Declaration — economy, energy, education, media, and culture — and outlined initiatives across these sectors.

According to official sources, Arab nations account for about 60% of India's crude oil imports, while total bilateral trade between India and the Arab League stands at $240 billion.

According to the ministry, over 50% of India's bilateral trade with the 22 members of the Arab League is in hydrocarbons.

A key development is the formal launch of the India and Arab Countries Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture in New Delhi on the sidelines of the summit.

Gaza reconstruction takes center stage

Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin also arrived in New Delhi on Thursday to attend the summit. Shahin has called upon India to play a pivotal role in the reconstruction of Gaza.

Shahin told ThePrint that she is asking India to "chip in humanitarian assistance, development assistance, and reconstruction assistance," and to continue pushing for the two-state solution.

Around $112 billion is the estimated price needed to rebuild the Gaza Strip under a reconstruction project titled "Project Sunrise” developed by the Trump administration.

Syrian participation marks new engagement

Syria will be represented by Mohamad Zakaria Lababidi, Director of the Afro-Asian and Oceania Department in its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, marking another diplomatic opening between New Delhi and Damascus following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.

If Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani's attendance is confirmed, it will mark the first ministerial-level interaction between New Delhi and Damascus since the formation of the government led by former Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, according to ETV Bharat.

Strategic importance of the diaspora

According to Arab News, of the 35.4 million Indians living abroad, 9.7 million reside in GCC countries. Gulf-based Indians accounted for almost 40% of India's total remittances of $118.7 billion in fiscal year 2023-24.

Long-standing partnership

The ministers' meeting is the highest institutional mechanism driving this partnership, which was formalized in March 2002, when India and the League of Arab States signed a memorandum of understanding to institutionalize the dialogue process.

According to the ministry, India has traditionally enjoyed close and friendly relations with the countries that form the League of Arab States, with relations dating back to ancient times when traders, scholars, and diplomats would often traverse the Arabian Sea and the land routes linking India to West Asia and the Arab Peninsula.

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India hosts second Arab Foreign Ministers Meeting after decade-long gap